Locomotive



w. E. wo'oDARD LOCOMOTIVE Filed March 14, 1927 Sept. 11, 1928.

gm/vento?,

W ww Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

f UNITED stares WILLIAM E.` WOODARD, F FOREST HIIIJS, NEVI YORK.

LOCOMOTIVE.'

Application filed March 14, 1927. Serial No. 175,387.

This invention relates to locomotives, and

' more particularly to acombined bracketand brace which serves both as al support for an air compressor or other auxiliary appliance andV as a brace between the smokebox structure and the front end of the main frame of the locomotive. Y v

,It has become a common `practice in steam locomotive design to provide air pumps or compressors whichare attached to the front engine deck. They are so mounted' because of the fact that with the increased size of boilers now in use, it is often found impracticable, if not impossible, to mount these compressors directly on the' side of the boiler and still come within the overall lateral clearances specified by the railroads. N ot only is it desirable, therefore, in order to conserve space, to mount the compressors upon the front en'- gine deck below the outward Ibulge of the smokebox or front portion of the boiler, but

v this location is also desirable from the stand- Cil point of accessibility.

The mounting bracket usually employed for securing the compressor in position is necessarily of substantial weight in order to provide suiiicient rigidity, since it is attached to the front engine deck only at its foot or base.

It is one of the primary objects of my present invention to utilize the weight and rigidity of such a bracket tov brace the frame and smokebox of the locomotive, and in general to prevent the forward frame structure of the locomotive from bending either upward or downward in the event of a collision, and to make it 'safely and conveniently possible, in the shops, to lift the locomotive bodily by taking hold of the front frame extension or the bumper, without danger of bending the frame.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a combined bracket/serving commonly as a boiler or smokeboX brace and as a. support for an air compressor or other auxiliary appliance, this bracket serving the dual purpose of providing a rigid connection between the smokebox and forward frame structure of the locomotive at the same time that it constitutes a support upon which an air compressor unit may be mounted.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a unitary casting constituting a veri tical stiffening brace between the locomotive smokebox and its sup-porting frame structure, and being provided with a laterally oifset iI1- tegral portion upon which the air compressor unit is mounted. y

A still further object is the provision of a combined supporting and bracing member having lugs or bosses thereon constituting means'for supporting the air compressor unit in position, saidmember being further providedwith a plurality of integrally formed reinforcing and strengthening ribs. g Other objects and advantages relating to details of economy, such as the provision of a bracket for the purpose specified which is of minimum weight without sacrifice of strength, will appear more fully hereinafter. A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification and in the drawings forming a part thereof, in which drawings:

Figure v1 is a partial side'eievation of the forward portion of a locomotive showing in position the combined strengthening brace and supporting bracket; and

Figure 2 is a partial front elevation of the A arrangement shown in Figure 1,

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates genorally the smokeboX or forward end of the locomotive boiler which is supported in the usual rmanner upon. the locomotive frame structure 11. As appears most clearly in Figure 2, the smokebox is of substantially cylindrical form with the side walls thereof bulging outwardly beyond and above the sides of the'frame and the front wall 12 thereof eX- i'ending transversely of said frame. The valve chest 13 and cylinder 14-Y are cast en bloc and are secured at the side of the locomotive with the forward end thereof terminating in a transverse plane lying to the rear of the front wheel 15. v

Secured to the lower side surface .of the smokeboX wall 16 with the rear edge thereof abutting the upper forward edge of the cylinder casting is a plate 17, this plate being retained in position preferably by a plurality of bolts 18. The plate 17 is provided with a vertically depending branch 19, the outer surface of which is longitudinally rabbeted, as at 20, along its bottom edge.

Extending vertically between this plate 17 and the forward portion of the frame 11 is a forwardly and downwardly inclined bracing member 21, the upper edge of which is received in the rabbeted portion 2O of the plate 17 and secured thereto by the bolts 22.

The forwardly offset lower edge of the bracing member 21 is longitudinally rabbeted as at 23 for overlapping engagement with the upper edge of the frame extension l1.l Bolts 24 extending tlirough both the frame and the overlapping portion of the brace 2l serve effectually to secure these members togethen It will be apparent that the provision of such a brace, extending as it does between-the smokebox and the frame and abutting against the cylinder casting, affords a vertical stiffness and rigidity not heretofore obtainable, and effectually precludes any tendency of the front frame extension to bend either upwardly or downwardly. y

This same bracing member 2l also constitutes a support for the air compressor unit 25 as will now appear. Cast integrally with the bracing member is a forward extension 26, the upper and lower edges of which terminate in laterally offset projecting flanges 27-27. The opposite ends of these flanges are provided with supporting bosses 28 through which extend tie securing bolts 29 for mounting the compressor unit Q5 in position. To secure minimum weight of the combined bracing and supporting member consonant with maximum strength thereof, the compressor unit supporting portion of the member may be eut out, as at 30, and the bracket as a whole provided with strength- Aening and reinforcing ribs and fianges 3l and 32.

IVhat I claim is:

l. In a locomotive having a frame andk a smokebox, a combined auxiliary appliance support and bracing member between the smokebox and front extension of the frame.

2. The combination with a locomotive having a frame, a smokebox and a cylinder, of a combined auxiliary appliance support and frame and smokebox brace, comprising a member positioned between the front extension of the frame and the smokebox and abutting the cylinder casting.

3. In a locomotive front end construction, a bracket member serving commonly as a brace between the smokebox and the locomotive frame and as a mounting support for an auxiliary appliance.

4. In a locomotive front end construction, an integral member provided with means along the rear upper and lower edges thereof -and reinforcing ribs.l

6. In a locomotive front end construction,

a combined vertical brace between the smokebox and frame of the locomotive and support for an air compressor unit, said combined brace and support being provided with a plurality of integrally ilormed strengthening 7. In a locomotive front end construction, a bracket disposed in the space between the smokebox section of the locomotive boilerk smokebox, said plate being provided with a depending branch, and a combined bracing and supporting bracket, the upper and lower edges of which are respectively connected to said depending branch of the plate and to said frame.

9. In a locomotive front end construction, including the forward sections of the boiler and its supporting frame and the cylinder casting secured thereto, a substantially T- shaped member, the head of which is secured to the under surface of the boiler with the rear edge thereof abutting the cylinder casting, and a substantially vertically disposed brace interconnecting said frame and the, I

vertical branch of saidmember, said bracev being provided with a forward extension constituting asupport for an air compressor unit or other locomotive auxiliary. Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM E. wooDARD. 

